Pioneer Day Parade in Salt Lake City

The hubs and I went to see the Pioneer Day floats for the Days of 47 Parade. 

Irish band drummers warming up for their performance at the Expo Center in Sandy, Utah.

I love quilts so I picked out this cute float to flash a pic with! 

Cute glittery floats at the Days of 47 Parade.

Loved the steam coming out of this Pioneer Day float. 

This giant pioneer lady was funny looking....had to get the hubs to pose with her......heheh.....

What a geek I am! I LOVE these things! 

Had to pose with the giant pioneer dude too! 

These cherries on the banana split were giant red bouncy balls......so shiny and pretty! 

BYU had their blue float......and across the way was the U of U red float too! 

My church did this float.....so cute with the sparkly wheels that turned....

These are the Disney Princesses!!  No, just kidding, they are the Pioneer Day Princesses or Days of 47 Princesses.....something like that!  

Clown making balloon animals for the kids....

Panning for gold, lots of fun for the kiddos....

Lookie here!  A balloon animal poodle pup! 

This was a strange float....people were getting their picture taken next to the giant Jesus.....kinda strange! 

Mormon temple float....

Irish bagpipe band....pretty neat to hear them march around playing tunes....

My favorite was the pirate float....very cool looking! 

Gotta love a LEGO float! 

Parts of the floats lifted up and moved around

Old pioneer outfits on stands.....pioneer letters and memorabilia were everywhere....I loved that part. 

I am in awe of the Pioneers and the struggles they endured.  I don't think I have what it takes to have done it.  I'm glad we, in Utah, honor them once a year.  Happy Pioneer Day! 

Dollar Store Finds

I'm SOOOO excited to find these cute little ice cream cups. I have wanted a set of these forever. They are plastic in bright, rainbow colors and come with a little, matching spoon. They were $1.00 for a set of 2 so I bought 4 sets. SO CUTE!  

Cute little ice cream cups with spoons to match! So cute! Got them for a buck a pair! 

My grandkiddos will love eating ice cream out of these!

I also got these neat-o Betty Crocker measuring cups and measuring spoons. They came in such a cute red shade that matches my kitchen, and who couldn't use another set of measuring cups I ask? They also had a neat silicone spatula FOR A BUCK!  You can't find the silicone ones anywhere that cheap! 

Great gadgets from the Dollar Store!! 

I have like 4 sets of measuring cups, but THESE are definitely going to be a favorite! Gotta love Betty! 

And I have been needing a few more of these BBQ lighters and candle lighter sticks. I found a few pretty spoons to go in my utensil stash too.  And a pie crust for a buck! I'll have to make a cheesecake, oh DARN! What a great find today at The Dollar Store. My kitchen is flush with new, fun stuff.  

Fun Mixing Bowls 

My Rainbow Mixing bowls from my daughter. I just LOVE them!

I still haven't used my set of rainbow mixing bowls yet either!  I got them for Mothers Day in May. I will have to think of something fun to make this weekend with all my new stuff! Woo Hoo! 

4th of July Cupcakes

My finished chocolate 4th of July cupcakes! Yummo!

 Grandpa opens his pool on the 4th of July. We love to all go up for a BBQ and we celebrate 4th of July with fireworks too! Here are some fun 4th of July cupcakes to share with all my relatives! I just used fresh fruit and made some cute pics with flags.
                                        

Happy 4th of July! Snap, Crackle, Pop! I bet we'll be  hearing that all night?  \

Grandpa always does a BBQ for us at the 4th of July Party...Here is John and his dad, Don Moss. He is a veteran from the Air Force. Boo Yah! 

My 4th of July Decorations on my entry table...

So on Diana's Desserts website I found a simple 4th of July cupcake decorated with marshmallow whip and real cream that sounded great, and it uses the 2 fruits.  It looked very cute too so I decided to copy. Thanks Diana! Her website link is HERE.

They turned out really yummy.  I used cream cheese and marshmallow whip and cool whip because I thought the real whip cream would melt in the heat.  They were marvelicious!  Mmmmm.....I'm thinkin' of one of those babies right now! 

4th of July cupcakes from Hoosier Homemade... 

Another cute decorating idea was from Cupcake Heaven's ideas at Hoosier Homemade. Her link is HERE.
I liked the red licorice striped cupcakes with the little candy blue balls.  I have some peel apart red licorice so I will try that one too.  And maybe I can come up with some little picks in a patriotic theme. 

My Dining Room decorations for 4th of July....

My 4th of July cupcakes!

I love to decorate with Uncle Sam and my patriotic quilt..

My finished chocolate cupcakes! Yummo!

So my cake is chocolate... I always add about a 1/2 cup of sour cream and a small chocolate pudding mix.  It makes it a lot richer......and my icing I made with Marshmallow Creme (fluff stuff) about a cup or so, and cream cheese (about a half of a large block) and about a cup of Cool Whip. I just mess with it till it looks and tastes the consistency I want. And I gave it a little 4 drops of lime juice for a kick.  It is sooooo delicious!  You can also use it as a fruit dip. It's to die for. 

I found some little flags and stuck them on toothpicks

These 3 ingredients make THE BEST ICING EVER!  (or fruit dip)

Marisa and Megan my granddaughters rocking in the hammock....so cute! 

Happy 4th everybody!  We're off to grandpa's pool party!